


you are...

by atlesianic



Category: RWBY
Genre: Androids, Angst, M/M, POV Second Person, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28846311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlesianic/pseuds/atlesianic
Summary: a more freeform look at james ironwood and arthur watts.I DO NOT CONSENT TO THE REPOSTING OF MY WORK.
Relationships: James Ironwood/Arthur Watts
Kudos: 9





	you are...

imagine you're a child prodigy.

a genius unparalleled in their time. and imagine your parents only had you because they had no choice. they don't love each other, let alone you, and you're only useful because you're smart. it looks better on them than it does on you when you graduate high school at the age of ten and start college less than a year later. 

you never make friends. you're mostly homeschooled anyway, and even if you weren't, you're at least a decade younger than anyone you'd be in a class with. you don't have birthday parties. your parents think it's a waste of time. your closest friend is a cat your father threatens to kill almost every day and a nanny you have to let go of soon. you watch TV, videos online, porn, even spy on people who live nearby with a telescope or binoculars, trying to learn how real people act. you don't feel like a real person. you talk to the wall trying to learn how to talk. you make up stories in your head about having siblings who miss you when you aren't home. it doesn't help.

and when you're seventeen, after years of schooling and accomplishments, you finally get something you want, and you go to combat school. you make friends your age for the first time. and you fall in love. he's tall and athletic and older than you, and despite his popularity, he's kind and he seems to enjoy spending time with you. you make a promise to each other to join the military together, so you never have to be apart.

he proposes two years after you join. you weren't even officially dating, but you have to say yes, why wouldn't you? you love him. your parents are beyond furious, but you stand your ground. you move in with him and cry into his chest and fall asleep at his side. he makes you feel safe.

you never expected work to be the same as home, but after a while, you notice he's acting strangely toward you in uniform. he's climbing the ranks, impressing higher-ups. and you're stuck. he gets you on a prestigious team, working on top secret tech, but as grateful as you are, he just never seems pleased with you. not to mention the new job has you working later and later every night. one day, he appoints someone much less experienced than you to lead the project, and demotes you to grunt work. you start sleeping on the couch or in your office at home. he never says anything.

one night, it all builds and breaks and you scream at him until your throat hurts, and you throw the ring back in his face and leave. you don't tell your parents. you find somewhere else to stay. he's cruel at work, he's silent when you meet elsewhere. he has praise for everyone but you, and despite it all, you keep fucking working, trying to make him happy. 

it's too much. you cant sleep without him but the thought of him makes you sick. you can barely eat anymore. you write a suicide note. you plan to hang yourself in your office at work, so he'll see. and the room is suddenly cold and there's a stranger in your home.

she's not human, and she proves quickly you cant kill or hurt her. she tells you she's been watching, sees your pain. she wants to help you, but you have to do something unspeakable first. you have to die. 

the things she shows you are amazing. she makes you feel human. you feel safe. you haven't felt safe in a long time. you say yes, and that night, you get the best sleep of your life.

you work in secret. no one bothers to ask you questions anymore. they know better. people who you thought were your friends ignore you, whisper about you. you don't care anymore. 

using the technology he made you build, you make a new body for yourself. it's beautiful, haunting. it hurts beyond comprehension to tear your soul out of your skin and stuff it into metal. you hide your empty body in one of your machines and blow it to the moon. while the military is trying to figure out how you died, you kill your family. 

she takes you to an empty, cold, endless world of night and fear. but you don't feel anything anymore. and you've never been happier. 

you work for 20 years. you make allies. you might consider them friends, family, lovers, but you'd never say it out loud. and in what feels like the blink of an eye, you're staring him down again. you want him to kill you so badly, so all of this pain is justified, so you can feel human and safe when fire engulfs you. but instead he pulls you close. he cuffs you, but it feels like a hug. 

revenge takes many forms, just like pain. this is not what you had planned, but you're not complaining. watching him crumble and break every time you look at him feels like a victory in and of itself.

you used to kiss him. you used to hold him. he used to make you feel human, safe. 

you are arthur watts, and you will kill james ironwood if it's the last thing you ever do. 

**Author's Note:**

> http://twitter.com/atlesianic


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